February 24

UNABOMBER CHRISTIANITY?

Father, thank You for bringing me to this place and this time today. I ask You to speak to me right now, and to let Your Word breathe life into my heart. Please use these next few moments to bring me to more of a fullness of You and to learn more of Your Glory and how to leave the footprints of Jesus everywhere I go today. In Jesus Name I pray. Amen!

Read Matthew 5:14-15

Before we get started today I should warn you, I might get to the point of meddling today. I am just sticking to the text though.

Ok so you remember Ted Kaczynski? The Unabomber. Crazy guy that lived in a remote cabin Montana and would mail bombs to various locations. He is really a fascinating person. He had an undergrad degree from Harvard by the age of 20 and a Ph.D. in Mathematics from the University of Michigan by 25. He then became an assistant professor at Cal-Berkley but resigned two years later. He was a savant in his field, could have been the leading mathematician of today had he not lost his mind. He felt that society was on the wrong course and needed to be reset so he began his bombing campaign to bring this along. Regardless of how nuts he was, he really felt the bombings would accomplish this and so continued at a feverish pace. He finally ended the bombings after both the New York Times and the Washington Post published his manifesto, and it was the styling of this piece that led to his ultimate arrest (his brother recognized the thought patterns and literary traits and tipped the FBI).

Far too often I see the Christian subculture being no different than Mr. Kaczynski. We are secluded in our fortress whether it is a cabin in Montana, or a downtown building in Nashville, or mega church in Dallas or Atlanta. We may send bombs or flaming arrows into culture, and we may boycott this entertainment company or that politician but we are about as effective in changing culture as this crazed former professor.

Imagine if Theodore Kaczynski had used his various mental skills in other ways. Imagine if he had engaged culture with these unique skills and abilities. I am not sure he would have completely changed our society, but he would have had a far more reaching impact. He would probably be known for greater things than being the subject of the most expensive FBI search ever. He probably would have made us think about things differently.

Now the church is even more equipped to alter culture than Mr. Kaczynski ever was, but if we continue to pattern our methods in the same way as he, then we will only be remembered a sideshow and circus act much like he is. We have to get out from the fortress. We have to escape the walls and let our light shine into the darkness. Today I urge you to take your light out from under the bowl and let it really light the dark.

Leave His footprints as you walk today!